07/24/2001

Chow Line: Be cautious with creatine supplement (for 8/12/01)

Writer:

Martha Filipic
filipic.3@osu.edu
(614)292-9833

Source:

Sharron Coplin

My high-school-age son wants to start using creatine, saying it will help him when he runs cross-country. I'm saying no. Am I right?

Yes, your son should avoid creatine, for a number of reasons.

The supplement has been touted, in part, because it's a substance that the body itself produces. Creatine is made from the amino acids glycine and arginine. We also consume it when we eat poultry, fish and especially red meat. But supplements are a different story.

First, there have been no studies on creatine use in teens, or on the long-term effects of using creatine. Dosages commonly used cause creatine concentration in the urine to be 90 times higher than normal. Not only does that indicate that the body doesn't need so much creatine (so it disposes of it through the urine), there's concern over what that kind of creatine load can do to the kidneys. The formation of kidney stones, or more severe kidney damage, are possibilities.

Second, your son is exactly the wrong kind of athlete that creatine could help. Creatine makers claim that the substance helps the body during repeated short, rapid bursts of energy. Endurance athletes, like those on the cross-country team, develop a wholly different kind of muscle tissue, which call upon different energy sources, than those used by sprinters or football players.

Still, natural creatine is important because the compound phosphocreatine plays a crucial role in resupplying muscle tissue with ATP, or adenosine triphosphate -- the fuel that muscles use for quick bursts of energy. When the body needs the energy stored in ATP, an enzyme breaks it into adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and an inorganic phosphate group -- the break-up of ATP releases the needed energy. Then, new ATP must be formed, and phosphocreatine helps get the new supply into the muscle.

There is some evidence that for some people in lab studies, creatine supplements help speed up that resupply, so muscles can perform additional high-power efforts sooner than otherwise. But muscles can only store a certain amount of creatine. People whose muscles already have the maximum amount wouldn't benefit at all. Because so many questions remain on creatine supplementation, it's best to be very cautious when considering its use.

Chow Line is a service of The Ohio State University. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1044, or filipic.3@osu.edu.

Editor:
This column was reviewed by Sharron Coplin, registered dietitian and Ohio State University Extension associate in the College of Human Ecology.